Chapter 859 - Divination
Hokolulu Port.
When Fiery Lotus and Slavery slowly sailed into the port, the sailors could feel an obviously unusual atmosphere.
Instead of pirates horsing about, nervousness filled the entire port.
The two ships had suffered bombardment when they approached the shore.
Fang Yuan and the others were only allowed in after their identities were fully confirmed, and they learned why the whole port was on the defense.
“Specter Ship… that legendary ghost ship has appeared!”
“It’s sailed on the Golden Ocean and slaughtered seven ships, three of which were pirate ships!”
“There are countless undead creatures on the ship, and they won’t let any prey escape!”
…
“Right now, even pirates dare not sail out of the port… Rumor has it that the son of the Golden Ocean, Pirate Governor Edward, has sailed to this vicinity and is searching for Specter Ship with Wanderer!”
From a plethora of information, Fang Yuan managed to understand one thing.
The reason why Edward happened to appear and stop Blackbeard was that he had been sailing in the vicinity all this while, keeping an eye on the activities at sea.
Now that Fang Yuan came to the dock, he saw the many densely packed ships here.
Both merchant ships and pirate ships berthed here.
After all, other than a few major pirate governors, even the top pirates among the rest could not guarantee that they could escape from Specter Ship unharmed.
To pirates, Specter Ship would leave after some time, so they would not risk their lives doing things that could not bring any returns.
“However… in this case, the Pirate Prince’s power will be reduced covertly!”
Fang Yuan frowned when he thought about this point.
According to the information that Edward had disclosed, Ettoman’s Royal Navy might invade the Nightmare Ocean and fight against Blackbeard a month later.
Even if the two governors formed an alliance, how much aid could the Pirate Prince provide Blackbeard if he himself was in trouble?
“It happens… just at this crucial moment. A coincidence? Too many coincidences occurring together appear to be intentional… So the truth is that Ettoman is controlling Specter Ship? Or perhaps it found some method to guide it?”
Passing the dock, Fang Yuan came to the congested city streets.
Due to the various ships that berthed here, the place seemed very crowded.
Some vendors even started to sell goods on the spot, forming a small but bustling fair.
Silk, china, spices from the East, poisons and blowguns from tribes, and rum from Ettoman… There were so many kinds of goods that the place felt like a big mall in Ettoman.
“All of you go and purchase the daily necessities needed on the ship!”
Fang Yuan waved his hand and brought along Bill and Rolisa. The three of them mixed into the crowd, keeping a low profile.
“Bill… you go and find some shipwrights. We should also prepare some extraordinary materials needed for building the ship in advance…”
Fang Yuan was finally preparing to build his own extraordinary ship.
After all, with the rising power of Ettoman, the powers on the entire ocean would be reshuffled, and an ordinary warship was somewhat outdated even before a first-level naval warship, much less a steam-powered ironclad.
“Okay, Boss. But such things are all very expensive…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll give you fifty thousand gold coins first. If you find something good and feel unable to get it, then come to me…”
Gazing at Bill’s back, Fang Yuan looked pensive. “Searching for these materials and building my own extraordinary ship is only the last resort… The fastest way is still to obtain those legendary extraordinary ships directly.
“Specter Ship that’s recently appeared on the Golden Ocean seems to be a good target. Other than that… there’s this thing…”
A map emerged on Fang Yuan’s hand, just short of the last fragment.
“Boss!” At this moment, Rolisa came very close to Fang Yuan and whispered beside his ear, “That black fatty gave away all the secrets about this treasure map… He not only possessed two pieces but also knew where to find the last piece!”
“Oh? Where is it?”
Fang Yuan was somewhat excited upon hearing this.
“In Blackbeard’s hand…”
Rolisa chuckled.
“Are you sure you’re not trying to make my relationship with a pirate governor go sour?”
Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and examined this woman.
“In the moon’s name, no!” Stared at by Fang Yuan, Rolisa felt a chill sent down her spine, as if she were a child encountering a giant dragon.
“Moreover… is your relationship with Blackbeard considered friendly now?” Rolisa added.
“Hmm… You provided this piece of intelligence just at the right time!”
Fang Yuan took a few steps forward. His eyes glistened as he saw a gypsy tent and immediately entered.
The space in the tent was narrow, and all kinds of weird things filled the shelves on both sides.
Fang Yuan even saw a huge glass bottle containing big, strange eyeballs.
“Greetings, my honored guest from afar. May I answer any questions for you?”
A woman was sitting on a woolen blanket at the center of the tent. Her hair was tied in many small braids, and Fang Yang could see her blackened teeth when she smiled at him.
Doubtlessly, this was a witch!
She had mastered the mysterious power that only females could master and even possessed the ability to foretell the future.
Of course, Fang Yuan came here because he recognized that, unlike those swindlers, this witch indeed had some ability.
In fact… the Dao of Dream Master contains all kinds of techniques, including the technique of dream divination, but I’m not adept at this Dao… Furthermore, many parameters are different in a different world, so the divination technique may not be as effective as before. The magical techniques indigenous to this world are the most suitable for it after all…
Divination masters followed heaven’s trend and sought unity between human and nature.
In this aspect, the rules in different worlds were very similar.
For instance, the indigenous witches always liked to say ‘we must fear destiny!’
“I want to predict two things!” Fang Yuan sat cross-legged in front of the witch. “If your divination is accurate, I won’t be miserly with gold coins!” he said casually, and Rolisa threw a bag full of gold coins onto the table.
“I like generous customers!”
The string tying the bag loosened, and a few gold coins dropped out. The golden light reflected from them could provoke greed in most people.
But the witch only took a glimpse of it, as she was still more interested in Fang Yuan. “What two things?”
“First, I obtained a piece of intelligence and want to know its validity!”
Fang Yuan glanced at Rolisa.
“Then Destiny Cards should be used for divination!” The witch made a sound with her lips and took out a stack of cards. “Think about what you want to judge silently. Then take out any card from this stack and pass it to me!”
“The sun?”
Fang Yuan took one casually and flipped it, finding the pattern of the sun on the card.
“It suggests a definite ‘yes’. There’s no doubt about the truth of the intelligence you received!” The witch did not even frown. “What else?”
“I want to know about the location of a ship!” said Fang Yuan in a deep voice.
“Hehe…” The witch smiled madly and gazed at Fang Yuan with glistening eyes. “So… my young and handsome guest, which ship do you want to track? Is it a merchant ship from the East loaded with gold or a ship belonging to your enemy?”
“Neither!” Fang Yuan shook his head. “I want to know about Specter Ship!”
“That ominous thing connected to the netherworld?!” The witch shivered all over. “Three groups of people have asked me the same question before you, and I had them leave… because we must respect and fear destiny, and mustn’t peek into the domain of the dead!”
“Is that so? What if I force you to do it?”
A red glow flashed in Fang Yuan’s pupils. An emblem that was neither a saber nor a sword but appeared like both emerged on his palm.
“Ah!”
Seeing this, the witch immediately covered her face with both hands and screamed, as if she saw something extremely fearsome.
Thud! Thud!
While she was screaming, two strong men pounced out from behind the tent, but they were immediately taken down by Rolisa.
My own dream divination is only at a superficial level and can’t be used because it’s incompatible with this world… But this witch is an indigenous divination practitioner…
Thinking silently, Fang Yuan hung the emblem on the witch’s neck.
These types of spiritually sensitive people could most easily receive the murmurs of all sorts of beings, but of course, they were most likely to go mad as well.
The witch looked baffled now, as if she was stunned by something extremely shocking.
“I want you to make a prediction for me again!” Fang Yuan said.
“All right!”
The witch remained silent for a moment before taking out a crystal ball and putting it on the woolen blanket, her face and motion expressionless.
“The mist of destiny, please disperse before me… The spherical crystal, please guide me… to the specters sailing at sea!”
The witch grabbed the crystal ball and recited a prayer in a murmur, speaking faster and faster.
A plume of fog emerged in the crystal ball, revealing the vague silhouette of a sailing ship.
The sailing ship was entirely black and mostly corroded, but many undead creatures gathered on it, exerting a terrifying spiritual pressure.
The pressure even penetrated the crystal ball and entered the tent.
Rolisa knelt immediately.
Only Fang Yuan could act as if nothing had happened in front of such pure power of death.
“Who dares covet the ship sailing between the netherworld and the mortal world?”
“Who disturbs corpses that were sound asleep?”
“And who draws the attention of the undead specters?”
…
Mysterious voices were heard from the crystal ball.
It seemed as if specters were really going to creep out from the crystal ball.
The power of Specter Ship was indeed unimaginable. It actually cursed everyone who tried to learn about it through divination!